Don’t stand there banging on that door of opportunity, yelling, ‘Let me in, let me in.’ Instead, you stand there, armed with your bags of knowledge and your bags of understanding, and your bags of desire. And when they crack that door, step in and take charge!”
Moving in tandem with American history, the bold and brave first Black four-star general of the U. S. Air Force, Daniel “Chappie” James, in a rare historic television appearance on Tony Brown’s Journal, offered to his beloved country and his legally-oppressed Black brothers and sisters the same sage advice that his Black Mama had bestowed on him when he was facing the hardships of White racism in Pensacola, Florida.
“Boy,” the loving mother advised, “Don’t stand there banging on that door of opportunity, yelling, ‘Let me in, let me in.’ Then all of a sudden, someone snatches open the door, and you say, ‘Wait a minute, I have to go and pack my bags.’ Instead, you stand there, armed with your bags of knowledge and your bags of understanding, and your bags of desire -- and when they crack that door, step in and take charge!”
That’s exactly what that determined young boy of U. S. segregation would do years later as a U. S. fighter pilot over North Korea!
UPCOMING NEXT ON: TonyBrownsJournal.com
WHEN THE SISTERS CAME MARCHING HOME (TBJ Show #601) -- African-American women in military service also did not receive proper recognition for their service. Reflecting that apartheid custom, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only African-American WAC unit to serve overseas in WWII. This unit was responsible for redirecting the mail to the GIs on the battlefield, a Sisyphean feat, considering that troops were constantly on the move. For example, when the 6888th arrived in England, there was a backlog of more than three million pieces of undelivered mail. The all-Black unit broke all records in solving the problem. They worked day and night in eight-hour shifts, averaging more than 65,000 pieces of mail, and won the praises and admiration of the Army brass. Although the 6888th was considered one of the best units in the women's army, Black or White, it was the only overseas unit during WWII that did not receive a citation.
